This invention relates to wireless telephones and processes for use of such a telephone to secure action on behalf of the telephone's holder.
Today, wireless telephones are used exclusively for telecommunication, while other devices are used to secure action on behalf of a user. For example, Infra-Red remote control devices are used to control TVs and VCRs; house keys are used to secure entry to a premises, credit cards are used to obtain consumer credit, etc. All of these activities can be classified as "control transactions", because control is exercised by the user to obtain some desired result or benefit. Some of those transactions are free, such as securing entry to one's own home or controlling the reception of free channels of a TV. Others are not free, such as securing entry to a theater, selecting a "pay per view" TV channel, obtaining consumer credit, etc.
It is an object of this invention to allow users to employ their wireless telephones to effect such control transactions; and in connection with control transactions that are not free, it is an object of this invention to allow the cost of such control transactions to be borne by the credit account that the wireless telephone holder has with the wireless service provider or another party.